# Two minutes silence to remember London victims

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-minutes-silence-to-remember-london-victims/312484>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [July 14, 2005, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-minutes-silence-to-remember-london-victims/312484 "2005-07-14T08:41:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-minutes-silence-to-remember-london-victims/312484/21 "2005-07-15T18:50:36Z")

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If we had a moment of silence every time someone somewhere in the world died tragically, no one would ever speak again.

Obviously, this idea has some advantages.

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**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-minutes-silence-to-remember-london-victims/312484/22 "2005-07-17T17:14:35Z")

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Sorry if this is a bit old now, but I hapened to read this article today, re. the “silence” thing.

> [@MGibson](#):
>
> I’m cuious, does anyone know if these moments of silence were common in the past? Did the United States have a moment of silence after Pearl Harbor was bombed? How about when Custer was defeated? Has this always been common or is it a more recent occurance?
> 
> Marc

[http://www.sundayherald.com/50801](http://www.sundayherald.com/50801)

> [@](#):
>
> …  
> It’s generally accepted that origins of the minute’s silence lie in the commemoration of Armistice Day and an idea first mooted by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, formerly High Commissioner in South Africa.
> 
> Fitzpatrick had instituted a daily three-minute silence in the colony in 1916 as a means of marking the roll call of dead, also a daily occurrence. On November 4, 1919, he wrote to Lord Milner, secretary of state for war and a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles, suggesting its implementation across the Commonwealth. “Only those who have felt it,” he continued, “can understand the overmastering effect in action and reaction of a multitude moved suddenly to one thought and purpose.”  
> …

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**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-minutes-silence-to-remember-london-victims/312484/23 "2005-07-18T07:39:45Z")

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> [@WotNot](#):
>
> Perhaps if I was a better kind of person, I wouldn’t need a couple of Yorkshire teenagers to remind me to care for my fellow man – but apparently I do.
> 
> Perhaps I’ll be a better kind of person tomorrow.

Very well put.

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**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-minutes-silence-to-remember-london-victims/312484/24 "2005-07-18T17:10:04Z")

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Sadly, tragedy is now branded and used to increase circulation or advertising rates.

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